Toy



April 16 1929. w. FALKE 1,709,121

TOY

Filed Nov. 19, 192'?v j; flame W IN VEN TOR.

Patented Apr. 16, 1929.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM FALKE, OF WAHOO, NEBRASKA.

TOY.

Application filed November The invention relates to toys, and has forits object to provide a toy which may be employed for amusement, and atthe same time will be of educational value as the operator may easilyobserve the angle of deflection and the like of a ball which ismechanically moved over a continuous circuit, and is deflected againstangularly disposed surfaces. 7

A further object is to provide a downwardly inclined ball trough havingan opening in the lower end thereof and a spring member, which memberprojects the ball upwardly against an inclined surface of a balltrackway, the lower end of which is connected'to the first mentionedtrackway, thereby causing said ball to make a complete circuit throughthe device.

' A further object is to provide the under upper end of the upper troughwith an opening through which the ball is projected against a deflectingsurface and then deflected at an incline downwardly onto the bottom ofsaid trough.

A further object is to provide a rotatable crank cooperating with theflexible ball projecting member and forming means whereby said ballprojecting member may be intermittently flexed for projecting a ball.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in thecombination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, 7

shown in the drawings, described and claimed, it being understood thatchanges in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made withinthe scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of theinvention. 7 I

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the device. 7

Figure 2 is a top plan view.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of another form ofcrank operating means.

Referring to the drawing the numeral 1 designates the base of thedevice, which base is provided with upwardly extending supports 2, onwhich is mounted a downwardly and forwardly inclined trough 3. The upperend of the trough 3 has connected thereto an upwardly and forwardlyinclined trough 4 and at their point of connection a ball de- 19, 1e27.Serial No. 234,403.

flecting plate 5 is provided, which plate, when a ball engages the same,deflects said ball down the trough 3. The upper end of the trough 4 hasits bottom l cut away to form the opening 5 through which the ball 6 isprojected, against the upwardly and rearwardly inclined surface 7, whichsurface 7 deflects the ball downwardly through the trough 4. However aguard plate 8 is preferably provided. 7

The lower end of the trough 3 has an opening 9 therethrough and avertical channeled member 10, and the ball 6, when in its down positionis disposed in the opening 9 against the flexible projecting member 11,which member is preferably formed integral with the upper end of thestandard 2, and is adapted to be flexed downwardly to the dotted lineposition a shown in Figure 1, and to be then released for projecting theball 6 vertically through the channel member 10 into the upper end ofthe trough 1 and this operation may continue as long as desired, and itwill be noted that the various points of deflecting of the ball willgive the operator a fairly good working knowledge of the angles ofdeflection, refraction and reflection. The flexible member 11 may bemanually operated by the finger of the operator, or may be mechanicallyoperated, and the preferable form of operating mechanism is shown in theform of a. crank 12 in Figure 1, which crank is rotatably mounted in aU-shaped bracket 13 carried by the base 1. If desired a gear 14 operatedby any conventional form of spring motor may be used, and which gearrotates a pinion 15 mounted on the crank as shown in Figure 3, and it isto be understood any kind of operating mechanism may be used.

The invention having been set forth what is claimed as new and useful isA toy comprising a base, a downwardly and forwardly inclined troughcarried by said base and having a ball receiving aperture in the lowerend thereof, an upwardly and forwardly inclined trough carried by theupper end of the first mentioned trough and terminating above the lowerend of the first mentioned trough, a ball deflecting hood carried by theupper end of said last mentioned trough, the lower end of the firstmentioned trough having an upwardly extending channel portion, aresilient flexible member be neath the lower end of the first mentionedtrough and against which a ball engages,

and means for flexing said flexible member whereby said ball will beprojected upwardly into the upper end of the secondmentioned trough intoengagement with the deflecting WILLIAM FALKE.

